Is my autohelm worth repairing?

[paulrossall]

5 year old autohelm played up at end of last year. Took cover off when got home and droplets of water inside. Dried it then sent it to manufacturer for testing expecting to get £50 to £100 bill max to reassure me that it would be OK for next season. Told mother board and fluxgate compass suffered from water ingress and cost would be £230 to repair, but also offered discount if I got a new one.
A sceptical mate says it would have worked OK after I had dried it out.
Do you think I should accept manufacturers report or should I get it back at £35 inspection and postage charge? Is there anyone else who you would trust to give an honest opinion on it? What would you do??

 

[jimboaw]

What model "Autohelm"

 

[jfkal]

If you think Autohelm is expensive? Check their repair prices.
I would take it back. Open it. If there are salt crystals present I would flush it with distilled water (from the pharmacy and NOT battery water from the gas station. Let it dry out, use a hairdryer gently if you must. Reassemble and it should work. Otherwise get a new one as the price delta is too small to make it worthwhile to get it "repaired".

 

[Piers]

Try calling Dave Wellcome of Raymarine, one of their senior autopilot software development engineers. Dave knows everything about autopilots. His opinion would be straight. I have known him for years, and he's always been helpful beyond expectation.

02392 693611 extension 1614.

Piers du Pré
www.playdeau.com

 

[AndyL]

Get it fixed, and

at the same time buy a new one. When the new one breaks, you have a back-up.

 

[paulrossall]

It is a ST2000

 

[HaraldS]

Chances are high that it survives water ingress. Especially digital circuits consist of chips that are sealed. Remaining problems are usually printed circuit boards and maybe some pieces like transformers, but even those usually survive.

What makes things worse is when soaked electronics are powered on. Then electrolysis tends to disintegrate thin traces on the PCB. Once found it is relatively easy to fix by soldering on some thin wire.

I would never send in such a unit, expecting to be ripped off, other than under warranty.

On the other hand, it may still work perfectly and the service center declared it unrepairable, having spotted corrosion on the PCB. From a vendors perspective this might well rate as unrepairable.

I would be more worried, why water got into a supposedly sealed unit that is made to operate in a wet cockpit. Certainly wouldn't get a second one of that brand.

So, I would get it back, try my luck. If it is really dead, forget the rebate, try a unit from another maker.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.taniwani.de>http://www.taniwani.de</A>

 

[paulrossall]

Thanks for all the advice. I have just rang Raymarine and it is coming back to me at a cost of half hours labour (£20) and postage (£9) plus VAT. They are not stating it will not work but believe it may not be reliable due to having had water in it. As a first step I intend to set it up in the house and leave it turned on with markers against the end so I can see whether it has moved. I will let you know what happens.